Bacon Cheddar Mac

This recipe for Bacon Cheddar Mac is another  super-fast dinner, totally inspired by what I had on hand:  a partial box of elbow noodles, a block of Sharp Cheddar with an expiration date fast approaching, and bacon. Everything's better with bacon. This made enough for one generous-sized portion or two merely normal portions (I ate the whole thing myself, so please don't count the calories for me..yummm...)


Ingredients

• 3/4 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
• 2 slices thick-cut bacon
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 3/4 cup shreeded sharp cheddar cheese
• pinch smoked spanish paprika
• pinch ground mustard
• sea salt
• fresh-cracked black pepper

Directions

1. Boil macaroni according to package directions. Prepare the sauce while its going (the timing was spot-on for me)
2. In a large non-stick skillet, fry the bacon until browned and crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan (save the grease! Emeril Lagasse would be proud! My family doctor would not!)
3. Return the pan and hot bacon grease to a medium burner. With a silicone spatula, stir in the flour until it is lightly browned (goes pretty fast in hot bacon grease).
4. Add milk and whisk quickly to distribute the flour. Cook over medium to med/low heat until the milk is thickened and bubbly (about 2-3 minutes, tops)
5. Stir in the shredded cheese, a little at a time, waiting for it all to melt before adding more.
6. Sprinkle in the paprika, mustard, and salt and pepper to taste.
7. Drain the cooked macaroni (no need to rinse), and toss in the cheese sauce.
   Crumble in the cooked bacon and eat it quickly before guilt sets in.

Smores Gone Wild

I don't trust my kids around a campfire, so we make our smores in the microwave. They are super-fast and super-easy and there are so many variations.

Basic Smores:

1. Place a graham cracker square on a napkin or microwave safe plate.
2. Place a large marshmallow on top.
3. Nuke 10 seconds.
4. Top with a square of chocolate and another graham cracker square.

Variatons:

Peanut Butter Cup Smores - Add a swipe of creamy peanut butter to the top cracker. The residual warmth from the marshmallow will melt the chocolate and the peanut butter together. mmmm...maybe Reese's should consider adding marshmallows to their candies...

Fluffer Nutter Smores - Graham crackers, marshmallow, peanut butter, and banana slices (chocolate optional).

Dark Chocolate Raspberry - Change out the plain milk chocolate for a Dove Dark Chocolate promise and add a swipe of raspberry jelly

Double-Stuffed Smores - Chocolate graham crackers with marshmallow and white chocolate

Chocolate Orange Smores - Chocolate graham crackers, marshmallow, orange marmelade

Turtle Smores - Chocolate graham crackers, marshmallow, pecan halves (stick them into the hot marshmallow to keep them from falling out),  a square of chocolate, and a thin swipe of caramel ice cream topping on the top graham.

You tell me: what kinds of smores do you like?

Easy Appetizers: Antipasto Platter

Antipasto means "before the meal" in Italian. An antipasto platter is one of the easiest appetizers to offer because there is virtually no assembly and it allows all of the diners to pick and choose their own toppings.

Traditional ingredients include cured meats, olives, pepperoncini, artichokes, cheeses, and vegetables, frequently topped by a drizzle of olive oil.

In the photo at the left, I used (clockwise from top left):

• Fresh mozzarella
• Cherry tomatoes
• Store-bought olive salad with olives, artichokes, and pepperoncini
• Prosciutto slices
• Pepperoni (in the center).  

Served with crusty slices of bread or pita chips and a roasted garlic-and-artichoke hummus it makes for a tasty and filling start to a meal.
Other suggestions:

• Roasted red peppers
• Mushrooms
• Anchovies
• Roasted garlic
• Salami
• Pancetta
• Asparagus

Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus and Peppers

This is a super-easy side dish. I usually prepare it in the oven, but it works well on a grill with a grill tray. You can add additional vegetables to the roasting pan--onions, zucchini, squash, mushrooms. Whatever you like that will fit on your baking sheet.

Ingredients

• One bunch fresh asparagus
• One red bell pepper, sliced into 1" thick slices
• Olive oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Fresh cracked pepper and sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line a large rimmed baking sheet (jelly roll size) with a silicone baking mat or foil for easy cleanup.
2. Take one asparagus spear and break the cut end off. Trim the rest of the spears to approximately the same length.
3. Arrange asparagus and peppers (and any additional veggies) on the baking sheet.
4. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper
5. Roast about 15-20 minutes until the veggies are cooked but not burnt. With the convection fan turned on, 15 minutes was perfect for fairly fat (my thumb sized) asparagus.

Easy Grilled Teriyake Chicken Kebabs

When I take over grilling duties from my husband, I still make him light it for me. That's because our trusty old grill,  hasn't had a working starter for about eight years :)

Kebabs are really easy. Most of the work involves a knife. My suggestions:
1. Use metal skewers, like these. They're easy to clean and no pre-soaking required (they also won't catch on fire if you get a bad flareup). Buy once, use for years.

2. Get a set of color-coded flexible cutting boards and extra knives. That way you can keep beef, chicken, fish, and vegetable ingredients separate until its time for the final assembly. If you only have one favorite chef's knife, always cut the vegetables before the meat (and wash with hot, soapy water when switching between meats).

This recipe feeds about 3-4 people, and is easy to scale up by adding more meat, veggies or fruit. Apples, peaches, thick pineapple chunks, and squash are all good choices.

Ingredients

• 2 bell peppers (I used 1 green, one yellow)
• 3 small yellow onions
• 16 oz baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and whole
• 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
• Bottled teriyake sauce. I used Kikkoman Honey Pineapple:
  
  
• salt, pepper, and olive oil

Directions

1. Light a gas grill and turn all burners to high to preheat about 10 minutes.
2. While the grill heats, chop all of the veggies (except the mushrooms)into 1" chunks.
3. On a separate cutting board, trim any fatty bits off the chicken and chop the into 1" chunks. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.
4. Alternate veggies and meat on the skewers, ending with a mushroom on the pointed end (they will help keep the rest of the veggies from sliding off during transfers).
5. Turn the grill burners down to medium-high and clean the grates (Old gunk comes off really well when they are hot).
6. Arrange all the skewers on the grill. Cover and cook about 2 minutes per side.
7. For turning, I would take the skewer from the far right hand side, move it to the far left, and roll the rest of them down across the grates, then cook another 2 minutes. Keep rolling and moving that last skewer back to the beginning until all the chicken is cooked through and all sides are equally grilled. This helps account for hot and cold spots on an unevenly cooking grill :)
8. During the last 2-3 rotations of the kebabs, brush the teriyake sauce on teh top side using a long-handled grill brush. Careful not to leave the sauced-sides down for too long--the sugars in the sauce can burn.
9. If you need a carb fix, serve over steamed brown rice, or as wraps in tortillas.

Make Ahead Buttery Waffles

Crispy, buttery waffles are well worth the time to prepare. Fresh waffles are a Saturday morning breakfast in our house, but even on a weekend, they can be time consuming. With a waffle iron that kicks out four at a time, I spend half an hour or more waiting on waffles to bake (a vast improvement over the 2-waffle iron I had used previously).



My basic waffle recipe (use 1 stick melted butter instead of the cooking oil to make them even tastier) makes about 16 4x5 inch waffles, way more than we can eat in one sitting.

I cool the leftovers on a wire rack (so they don't get soggy), and then put them in zip-top bags and freeze.  The kids pop them straight from the freezer into the toaster for quick school-day breakfasts.They are far tastier and much much cheaper than the store-bought kind (hello, $3 for 8 waffles? I think homemade comes to under $1 and I don't add unusual preservatives or artificial ingredients).

If you have noticed the blond cutie in the photo over on the right, that would be my new hire here at Year of the Pancake. His job duties include whisking, heckling, sampling, and of course, he's the official blog photographer.

30 Minute Chili

I have nothing against slow-cooked chili and I do use my crockpot frequently. But it is possible to make flavorful chili on a weeknight in about half an hour (including the time to defrost frozen ground beef!) and using a single pan.

Ingredients

• 1 pound 90% lean ground beef
• 1 30 oz (the fat size) can Brooks hot chili beans
• 1 30 oz can of tomato puree or diced tomatoes.
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 red, yellow, or orange bell pepper
• 1 medium yellow onion
• About 1/2 cup chili powder
• Epazote* (optional)
• Salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste

Directions

1. While the ground beef if defrosting in the microwave (I can never remember to thaw in the fridge ahead of time), chop the onion and pepper. Chop them at coarse or fine as you like. My peppers usually end up about 3/4" square and onions about 1/4" or so.
2. In the bottom of a 6-quart chili pot (stock pot, dutch oven, whatever you call it), heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering.
3. Add the peppers and the onions and cook, stirring often, until they begin to soften and brown a bit, maybe 3 minutes or so
4. Add the ground beef to the pot and brown it with the onions and peppers. Using the lean ground beef means there's nothing to drain, which saves me a step.
5. Turn on your vent. Or open a window. Trust me on this.
6. Add your chili powder, dry, to the hot pan with the meat and onions/peppers. Stir it in and cook about 3-5 minutes before adding any liquid. This may smoke a touch as the ground peppers release their oils. The hotter your chili powder, the less I would recommend inhaling deeply over the pot as it toasts. But, you have to stir and scrape the bottom to make sure nothing burns or sticks. Toasting the spice like this deepens the chili flavor quickly, bringing out some of the flavor that usually takes a long simmer.
7. Pour in the tomatoes and beans and epazote (if using), stir, then cover your pan and lower the temperature to medium-low. Simmer about 10 minutes (or longer if you have longer).
8. Before you serve the chili, taste it. Depending on what kind of chili powder you use, you may not need to add any salt and pepper, or you may need quite a bit. Add a little, stir, wait a minute or two, then taste again.
9. In our family, we serve chili with tortilla chips or cornbread muffins, shredded cheese, and a bottle of extra-hot sauce for myself and my husband (we haven't quite killed the kids' tastebuds yet).

*Epazote is a mexican herb that is supposed to act as a natural Bean-o and reduce the gassy after-effects of the chili. It's just a dried leaf that adds little in the way of flavor to the chili. Anecdotally, I think it works :) I buy mine at Penzeys as well as their chili powder (we keep medium, hot, and a few extra additions onhand, and custom-blend depending on who is eating).

Weeknight Roast Chicken and Vegetables

I love a one-pan meal that is quick to make after the work-school-carpool rush midweek, and last night I was in the mood for real food. You know, the kind that doesn't come pre-packaged or with a side of fries.  I didn't start this dish until almost six, and we were done eating by seven.

There are a couple of tricks I used to speed up the cooking. The main one is to cut the meat into smaller cutlets and then use a meat mallet to pound them to an even 1/2" thickness. That also turned two large-ish chicken breasts into about six smaller pieces, giving the kids their own piece and letting my husband and I each choose our portion size.  If you don't want to cut up the chicken you can buy smaller cutlets or boneless skinless chicken tenders.

Another trick is more of a technique than a trick. My frying pans are oven-safe (they have all-metal handles), so I can sear the chicken on the stove top and then finish the cooking in the oven without messing up a second baking dish.  When you take the pan out of the oven at the end, slip on a silicone handle cover or a pot holder over the handle and leave it there so you're not tempted to grab it with a bare hand.

I chose the veggies in this dish by one simple factor: they were what we had in the fridge. Feel free to subsitute something else (carrots, fennel, asparagus, fresh green beans, etc). If you want to roast potatoes, then you may need to adjust your cooking times or start them while you're searing the chicken (celery and peppers still taste good when crisp, potatoes not so much).

Ingredients

• 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 3/4-1 pound
• kosher salt, pepper, olive oil
• 2 Tbsp Fresh thyme (or dried, or rosemary, or a salt-free herb mix, or just stick with salt and pepper)
• 2 ribs celery
• 1 cup white mushrooms
• 1 red bell pepper

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425.
2. Chop the veggies into about 1" pieces.
3. Cut the chicken into about 3-4 pieces each. Cover them with saran wrap and pound with a meat mallet until they are about 1/2" thick.
4. Dry the chicken breasts with a paper towel and sprinkle each with kosher salt and cracked black pepper.
5. Heat about 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat in an oven-proof frying pan on the stove top until shimmering.
6. Sear both sides of the chicken in the pan until golden brown. Yes, the middles may still be pink.
7. Add the veggies and herbs to the top of the chicken. I added an extra drizzle of olive oil at this point because my pan was kind of crowded and mushrooms tend to suck up all the oil in the pan.
8. Place pan in the oven and roast about 5-10 minutes until the meat reads 160 on a meat thermometer.
9. Remove the pan from the oven and let the dinner rest, covered (with foil or a pan lid) while you set the table.
10. This is very yummy served with mashed potatoes. Ok, so we had boxed mashed potatoes. Sometimes I can't completely avoid packaged foods on weekenights.

Shrimp Fajita Wraps

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound small shimp (70-90 count)
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 yellow onion
• 4 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried chipotle chili powder
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• tortillas, lettuce, cheese, and salsa (ok, and sour cream and avocado too, if you're into that sort of thing)

Directions

1. Slice pepper and onion into strips.
2. Mix all of the seasonings and sugar together.
3. Toss the shrimp with half of the seasoning mix and set aside
4. Toss the sliced vegetables in the rest of the seasoning mix in a separate bowl.
5. Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium to medium-high heat with about 1 tbsp olive oil.
6. Add the seasoned vegetables and cook, stirring often, until the onions are softened and beginning to carmelize, about 5-10 minutes. Remove the veggies to a serving bowl and cover.
7. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan and add the shrimp.
8. Cook, stirring or flipping them often until the shrimp are pink and curled, about 2 minutes.
9. Serve the shrimp and veggies fajita-style, or make wraps, or skip the tortillas and just make salads.